Christopher Vega received the Medal for Valor.

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Rear Admiral Ten Eyck Powell, commander of the New York Naval Militia presented Sgt. Christopher Vega, who is also a New York City police officer, with a Medal of Valor on on March 14, 2018, for his actions in saving the life of a truck driver who was involved in a serious accident in Peekskill during the first nor'easter.(Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)Buy Photo

CORTLANDT - What started as a routine drive home during a blizzard led to Christopher Vega receiving New York's highest military honor.

During the "bomb cyclone" in January the Peekskill resident tied a tourniquet to help save the life of a driver whose truck crashed in the city, and on Wednesday Vega, a New York City police officer and sergeant in the New York Naval Militia, was awarded the Medal for Valor for his efforts.

Military personnel gathered at Camp Smith in Cortlandt for a ceremony to recognize Vega, who was joined by his family, including his wife and two children. The Medal for Valor is awarded by the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs "for heroism on military duty or to a member of the New York Military Forces who is in civilian status at the time of the action," the agency said in a press release.

"It means a lot," Vega said after service members gave him a standing ovation. "It's an honor to receive this award. This medal is not just for me. This is [for] all the servicemen and all the police officers that do things that no one ever sees."

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Rear Admiral Ten Eyck Powell, commander of the New York Naval Militia presented Sgt. Christopher Vega, who is also a New York City police officer, with a Medal of Valor on on March 14, 2018, for his actions in saving the life of a truck driver who was involved in a serious accident in Peekskill during the first nor'easter.(Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)

Vega, 41, was driving home from work around 10 a.m. on Jan. 4 when he saw a box truck had toppled a pole on Main Street near Beecher Park in Peekskill. The driver was pinned under the crushed cab and his leg was severely injured.

While another passerby stopped to call 911, Vega, who has tourniquet training, grabbed a tourniquet from his car and strapped it on the driver and waited with him until an ambulance arrived to take the man to NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt for surgery. Vega said he visited the man in the hospital the next day and that the man's leg was saved.

Eric Johansen, then Peekskill's police chief, wrote to the New York Naval Militia about Vega's efforts.

"He really exemplified what we do, what we're all about," said Col. Peter Riley, commander of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield, who presented Vega with an honorary coin.

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Members of the New York Naval Militia look on as a Medal of Valor is presented to Sgt. Christopher Vega, who is also a New York City police officer, with a Medal of Valor on on March 14, 2018, for his actions in saving the life of a truck driver who was involved in a serious accident in Peekskill during the first nor'easter.(Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)

Rear Admiral Ten Eyck "Trip" Powell, commander of the New York Naval Militia, placed the medal on Vega and said 192 people are believed to have been bestowed with the award, which goes back to before the turn of the 20th century.

"This is a significant award," Powell said. "It's significant because of what it represents for us as New Yorkers, it's significant for us as soldiers, it's significant because in New York state we care about our neighbors and our friends."

"Your training just kind of takes over," Vega said.

Vega is a member of the NYPD's World Trade Center Command-Counter Terrorism Bureau, but he is on leave to work for the New York Naval Militia, which he joined in 2016. He is on active duty as a patrol boat coxswain with its Military Emergency Boat Service, patrolling the Hudson River near Indian Point.

Before joining the NYPD Vega served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2000 to 2003.